


leave an imprint

by bipetermj (divineauthor)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Peter Parker, Crushes, Door Symbolism, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Identity Issues, Identity Porn, Michelle is Mary Jane, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Pet Names, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Secret Identity, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Whump, so many comic references & zero mcu that’s just how it is, terms of endearment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 17:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20411329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divineauthor/pseuds/bipetermj
Summary: The light from the windows shone brightly through the blinds and it bathed MJ in a soft glow. Peter’s brain spasmed and it was like all his spider-senses were on blast and he was in the slow-motion part of a movie where the pretty girl turned around and smiled. Except, you know, MJ was straddling the bench and staring straight at him and she wasn’t smiling at all. He could also smell the strawberry chapstick MJ put on and the sweet scent of her shampoo. He saw how MJ’s hair turned a couple of shades lighter under the warm sun, how it turned her skin golden brown. She was... ethereal.—•—The name of Peter’s soulmate is Mary Jane. Too bad he’s in love with Michelle Jones.





	leave an imprint

**Author's Note:**

> so this au is literally me just retconning michelle jones because zendaya _is_ mj watson and no one can tell me otherwise. i took inspo from all versions of comic!petermj because they’re my babies so shoutout to u if u can spot them !!! and just a quick fyi: the implied/referenced abuse & drug mention is very minor just fyi jkhsfdg
> 
> title from: zayn’s “imprint”

Peter’s first memory was hazy and soft, a sepia-toned dream he could vaguely recall. He was four years old and he had begged for his parents to help him learn how to write. It was one of those days where they were both home at the same time and they easily humored him. He remembered the comforting press of his father’s hand on his shoulder, the light lilt of his mother’s voice as he squinted his eyes and held the too-big pencil in his hand. He had painstakingly wrote the letter out one by one and felt childish pride as he finished his task, relishing in his parents’ happy words of congratulations.

When he thought back on the memory now, he knew that his letters were shaky and some of it were written backwards, but that was mostly because he had stared at it from a reflection of a mirror for ages. He knew his soulmate’s name better than his own at times, even writing it before he ever attempted to spell his name. 

_ Mary Jane. _

Peter was a big romantic even as a kid, so he read everything he could about soulmates and soulmarks. See, not everyone had a soulmate, but most people did. About 82% of the population had a soulmate to be accounted for via soulmarks. The world’s leading scientists confirmed that they appear in the womb, an illegible scrawl that was near impossible to read right after birth. But as the child grew, so did the soulmark which was why there was a mandatory check up a year after their birth to record it. There were some people with more than one soulmark and there were some people with none. 

Peter only had one for all his life and he was fine with that. He was completely fine with polyamory, but he knew deep down he was too much of a jealous person to ever share. He wasn’t perfect, okay? He was human. He had his faults. And at least he wasn’t a supervillain terrorizing the city with pumpkin bombs (long story). 

There was one thing that intrigued him about soulmarks though, besides the whole _ Hey, the universe told me you’re my soulmate, so that’s pretty cool_. Soulmarks were the names the soulmate identifies as in their core. He had read up about a pair of soulmates who met each other and didn’t realize they were soulmates because the guy had expected his dead name to appear, but it was actually his chosen name that was marked on his girlfriend’s skin. Scientists never figured out the exact reasoning for this—it was called a soulmate phenomenon for a reason—and they were still searching for the science behind it to this day.

Peter had asked Dr. Strange about it, after a mission with some weird wizard guy and Peter was nearby and came to help. He had asked before he left, mostly because he was reading about it moments before he donned his suit and went out on patrol, “Hey, Dr. Strange, quick question. Are soulmarks actually magic or do scientists not have the tech to figure it out yet?”

Dr. Strange smirked and his magic cloak fluttered happily in the wind. “Magic.”

Then he did that cool, swirling dance thing with his hands and popped into a portal and left Peter on the empty street, undisturbed by everything except for the rat in the corner. All he could say was, “Sick.” 

Then he webbed off and onto busier streets, his mind unconsciously drifting to the tight, looping scrawl on his left rib cage. _ Mary Jane_, Peter thought then said out loud for no reason at all except he just liked how it rolled off his tongue. He did that a lot, mostly at home now in his room, tasting the name on his lips. It felt right, like it belonged there. 

And for all of Peter’s big, romantic heart, he wasn’t stupid. He knew not everyone ended up with their soulmate and not every soulmate was a good person, but the two pairs of soulmates he knew were... extraordinary. Even though he doesn’t remember much about his parents, he knew they were each other’s soulmates and that they loved each other so much. Ben and May too. They were so devoted to one another that, even through the rough times when Ben’s hours were cut and they struggled to pay rent on time, they would always have each other to lean on. So yeah, Peter heard the horror stories, but he vehemently hoped that his Parker Luck would land him with a relationship as caring as the two he had witnessed. And he would wait for however long that would take. 

So with that in mind, he dated. Or at the very least, he tried to. Dating someone who wasn’t your soulmate when you were young was actually pretty commonplace. Not many people meet their soulmates until their mid-twenties, so Peter thought it was a safe bet to dip his toes in the dating scene.

It was, without a doubt, the worst thing for him when he first started. With the whole Spider-Man thing and constantly fighting criminals and the occasional alien (or all around creepy villain) alongside his school and Academic Decathlon, his time for dating went from zero to negative six hundred. And after the disaster two years ago with homecoming and Liz and her dad, Peter was pretty put off by it all. But then MJ slowly wormed her way into his life and Peter was self-aware enough to know that he had a crush and he had it bad. 

And listen, while Peter had honestly no time to date normally, it didn’t mean he was a dating virgin. Granted, most of his extremely short-lived relationships were of the superhuman variety because there was no other time to meet someone new. He had dated Kitty Pryde for a few weeks—the rush of adrenaline and kissing in alleyways was great until they mutually broke it off for no other reason besides the both of them not feeling up to it anymore. Then there were the few months he had with Johnny Storm, who still was one of his best friends, but that was a haze of fire and making out on top of the Statue of Liberty at midnight. Ned made fun of him for weeks because he always came to school smelling a little singed. Peter smiled crookedly at the memory. Johnny always did run a little too hot when Peter actually used his strength for more than just punching his way out of trouble. And maybe it was a little weird being friends with the guy Peter had intimate knowledge of, but nothing about their relationship was conventional, so they joked about it a lot. 

But it had been awhile since he _ dated _ dated. Actually going by Peter’s own standards, he doesn’t think he had ever _ dated _ dated someone before. Liz could barely count as anything, and he honestly didn’t know if making out every time he and Kitty met was dating or if it was just intense friends with benefits. Johnny was the closest he ever got to dating. But there were no going out to dinner nights or meeting the parents (or family) because he was still just Spider-Man to the rest of the Fantastic Four and Peter wasn’t comfortable revealing his identity to other supers, even if it was Johnny’s family. 

What Peter wanted was to go out on a date, maskless, and feel that cliché butterflies in his stomach feeling again. But when he noticed that he felt all weird and fluttery around MJ, he balked at his body’s reaction. No, not because he hated her since she was the actual best, but because it felt different than anything he had experienced. He knew attraction and puppy love, he knew that awkwardness of a crush, but with MJ it was—it was more. It was like all of those feelings combined and then thrown into a blender and spat back out on the floor like a glittery, gooey mess. 

MJ was beautiful, in an understated sort of way that made Peter’s heart lurch to his throat and he could never find the right words to speak to her. Not that it would help his image, since she was firmly set in her belief that he was a nerdy loser which, Peter could admit, was true. 

Now when he saw her, his tongue just fumbled in his mouth and all that came out was, “Heylo, fuck, uh, good morning—I mean afternoon, MJ—“

“Hey, loser,” she greeted, ignoring his complete meltdown which Peter was immeasurably grateful for. She was wearing this cool t-shirt with line art of Maya Angelou and black jeans while her hair was as untamed as ever, even tied up. Peter was fucked. She plopped down next to him and stole some of his fries as she opened up her book. “Where’s Ned?”

“He had to makeup that chem test he missed Friday,” Peter managed to answer, semi-normally. God, where was Ned when you needed him? 

MJ scrunched up her nose cutely and wiped her salty fingers on her jeans. “Shit, I forgot he missed it.”

Peter just nodded and drank his water noisily, trying desperately not to stare at her for too long to be creepy because she would notice since she was wicked smart, but also because he might die of embarrassment if she called him out on it. A couple of minutes passed, the sounds of other students talking and her flipping through another page of her book filtered through his ears, before he coughed as if to start a conversation. MJ didn’t close her book, but she raised an eyebrow at him. God, he had been her friend for a few years and this newfound crush was making him lose every social cue (which wasn’t even a lot) he ever had. 

The light from the windows shone brightly through the blinds and it bathed MJ in a soft glow. Peter’s brain spasmed and it was like all his spider-senses were on blast and he was in the slow-motion part of a movie where the pretty girl turned around and smiled. Except, you know, MJ was straddling the bench and staring straight at him and she wasn’t smiling at all. He could smell the guy who smoked weed in the third floor bathrooms across of hall, the girl who sprayed a shit ton of floral perfume to mask the scent of sweat, the day-old burger meat in the trash. But he could also smell the strawberry chapstick MJ put on and the sweet scent of her shampoo. He saw how MJ’s hair turned a couple of shades lighter under the warm sun, how it turned her skin golden brown. She was... ethereal. 

He faintly wondered if the taste of strawberry would stay in his mouth if he kissed her right there, wondered if she’d press close to him, if she’d move away. But then MJ plopped one of her legs onto his thighs and broke him out of his, now routine, MJ daze. 

“You okay, tiger?” she asked, a little concerned the more he didn’t say anything. Tiger was one of her newer nicknames for him which she used only when she was feeling particularly soft towards him. Loser and nerd was an everyday nickname that he shared with Ned, but when she called him tiger... it made his brain melt down to his ears. He was pretty sure he could tip over and his brain would just leak onto the floor. 

He smiled dumbly and he didn’t know what possessed him, but he opened his mouth and asked, “Will you go out with me?”

A millisecond passed by, but to Peter it felt he had lived an entire lifetime. Did he just fucking ask MJ out? On a date? Where, if things go right, they could inevitably kiss and— 

_ Stop it, Parker_, he told himself. _ You’re losing it. Don’t spiral yet, she hasn’t even said anything. Fuck she hasn’t said anything. _

MJ‘s eyes widened a fraction before she turned to a new page in her book as if she wasn’t fazed by his question. She smirked lightly and said, “I’ll come by your place this Saturday at seven.” 

Peter just nodded and resisted the urge to fist pump and do, like, twenty backflips in a row because she said yes. To him. For a date. Holy shit, he was going on a date with MJ. What the hell was he going to do? What was an acceptable first date with someone he has basically liked for a while but was also his best friend? 

She wiggled the leg that was on his thighs to bring his attention back to her. She said, “Don’t worry, tiger, I’ll make the plans. I can see your mind going through all the stages of grief trying to figure out what to do.”

Peter huffed out a laugh because MJ really knew him. It amazed him that she knew him and still wanted to go out on a date with him. He rested one hand on her leg, where a sliver of her skin showed, and held it gently, thumbing her soft skin under his fingers. He heard the slightest inhale that only his ears could pick up and he tucked his chin to his chest to hide the wide grin that stretched across his face. 

He had a date with the most amazing person he knew. 

The rest of the day was a haze of pure joy mixed with anxiety. After MJ had left for her journalism class while he and Ned went down to shop class, Ned had shouldered him as they were walking and asked, “Dude, you’ve been smiling ever since I saw you. And, like, I’m glad you’re happy, but what the hell happened in the forty minutes I was out? Did Thor get a phone and text you?”

Peter sighed happily and threw his arm around Ned’s shoulders. “No, it’s better than that. MJ and I have a date this Saturday.”

“Holy shit,” Ned said and Peter could relate. That was basically his internal monologue ever since MJ said yes. “Bro, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you.”

Ned pulled him into a hug and Peter‘s cheeks honestly hurt from smiling like a loon for this long. They stopped at Ned’s locker, so he could put his books back in. The crowd around them was thinning as time went on. Ned continued, “I’ve been waiting for years for both of you to just date already. I can’t wait to tell the others about this too.”

“Wait, what?” Peter asked, his brows furrowed. “What do you mean years?”

Ned looked at him blandly. “Peter, you’ve been basically in love with her ever since she’s been captain.”

“What? No,” he spluttered. Had he been in love with her for that long? Peter knew he liked her for months, but years? Did he just not recognize his feelings or something? He felt a little pang in his chest as his mind raced and stopped on his ribs where Mary Jane’s name laid. He _ knew _ people dated before they met their soulmates. That was why he went out with other people in the first place because it was normal, but the guilt started festering in his heart. He had been half in love with a name for all of his life, but MJ... she was there and so real and so tangible. Peter gulped down on air and said, “Am I really that obvious?”

“Yeah,” Ned said, snorting. He closed his locker door and it looked like they were the only ones standing around the hall. “Look, dude, ever since she became captain you suddenly were on time for the meetings. You didn’t even do that when Liz was captain and everyone knew you had a crush on her. You go to every protest she goes to even if you don’t know what it’s about—”

“Hey, that’s called being a good, informed, learning citizen.” 

“—You voluntarily wake up early to walk her to school even though she lives on the other side of Queens. It’s like the only time you’re ever early. Then you take her calls when you’re on patrol or even when you’re literally fighting criminals. By the way, you keep telling her you’re going on runs at midnight is probably the worst excuse ever. You need better lies.”

“Okay, okay! I get it. I’m whipped.” Peter threw his hands up, surrendering at Ned’s seemingly never ending list of things he did for MJ. He sighed and scratched the back of his hear. “Can you blame me though? MJ’s amazing.”

Ned nodded solemnly. “That she is, dude. Now don’t mess it up. She’s my best friend too. It’d be awkward as fuck if something were to happen between you two.”

Peter just rolled his eyes and they finally went to class. 

* * *

When Peter rushed home, he didn’t immediately shove off his clothes to put on his suit. Since he finished most of his homework during study hall and lunch, Peter made more time to patrol Queens and sometimes even Manhattan if he was feeling up to it. Or if May allowed him to, since she didn’t want him too far for too long on school days. (Compromise, okay?)

So his normal schedule consisted of running home, shucking off his clothes, putting on the suit, and yelling “Bye, May,” if she wasn’t working before he threw himself out of his window and onto the streets. But today, he took his time and May, whose shift was later in the evening, came into his room with a quiet knock. 

“Hey, Peter,” she said, leaning on the doorway. He shoved his backpack down and ruffled around for the suit. His fingers caught on the fabric when she continued, “You usually get out as fast as you come in. What’s up?”

“Can you turn around, please?” Peter asked as he kicked off his shoes. She turned perfunctorily and Peter quickly changed. He pressed the button on his chest and was soon encased in it. He shoved the mask on his face and said, grinning so widely he thought May could hear it in his voice, “I have a date with MJ this Saturday.”

May turned back around and half-yelled, “Peter, that’s so exciting! Do you know where you’re taking her?”

Peter shook his head. “She’s planning it.”

“Thank God,” May said, laughing because even behind the mask she knew he looked off put. “No offense, sweetie, but you Parker boys are the worst at figuring out what to do. Ben’s idea of a first date was going to the beach. During winter. I managed to convince him to just go ice skating.”

Peter placed his hands on his hips and huffed. “Anyways, can I patrol Manhattan today? Johnny asked me to visit him, so I wanna be close by. I finished all my work and studied with MJ for our Decathlon meeting next week.”

May came closer and kissed his forehead. “Okay, Peter. Stay safe. I love you.”

Peter readied his web shooters and said, “Always. I’ll see you later, May. Love you too.”

Then he was off. 

On his way to Lower Manhattan, he stopped three muggings, helped two old ladies bring their groceries to their house, ate one hot dog from the stand he saved from getting run over by a swerving truck, brought some extra hot dogs to the homeless guys he chatted with whenever he could, and did like three backflips because a couple of people asked and Peter had so much pent up energy he might as well use it. 

It didn’t take long for the sky to turn dark when Peter was debating on whether or not he had enough webs to make a raft tonight or if he could just catch a ride on one of the ferry’s last trip and wait until Johnny showed up. Sometimes when Johnny asked to meet while the sun was still up, he’d politely ask for a ride on one of the helicopters. And by politely ask, he meant that he saluted at the pilots wordlessly as he attached a web on the underside and waited until the reached close enough to the big girl herself when Peter could get off. They never complained, so no harm, no foul, right? When he looked at the dark sky, he saw a streak of fire blazing in the air. 

Johnny stormed—_ha!_—towards their usual spot until he caught a glimpse of him, and Peter could tell because he swerved and dived down to reach him. It felt like standing next to a furnace which helped him wonders, since he was basically wearing glorified pajamas in the dead of November. Peter smiled crookedly and placed his hands on his hips. “You gonna give me a lift, hot stuff?” 

Johnny chortled and extinguished his flame, still smoking slightly, but perfect hair still in tact. Perks of the no mask thing, not that Peter’s own hair would ever look as model-like as Johnny’s did. His was either too messy and it started to curl a bit which annoyed him to no end but then again the gelled hair/masked head combination he normally dealt with just made him look like an idiot. Suffice to say, he looked like an idiot quite a lot. 

“Actually,” Johnny said, looking at the last loading ferry thoughtfully. “Let’s hitch a ride. I’m feeling nostalgic about seasickness.”

“You don’t _ get _ seasick, Johnny,” he countered, but walked alongside him. 

They ferryman eyed the both of them and their lack of ticket before he sighed, gesturing inside. Peter saluted lazily and hopped on, sitting down on the ledge as they all moved. Johnny leaned on the ledge beside him, looking like a normal, movie star gazing out into the water. All of Johnny’s clothes were doused in unstable molecules and he wasn’t on duty, so Peter was the one who looked like a cosplayer. Totally fine. The other passengers gave them a wide berth, maybe because superhero sightings weren’t that big of a deal anymore, or maybe they really thought he was a weirdo cosplayer. He did hear some people taking photos though, but they kept their distance which Peter was grateful for. 

“Any reason why you chose this?” Peter asked. “Not that I’m complaining. You being famous has some perks. I’d usually just stick to the side sometimes.”

“Ned texted me about your date. With MJ,” Johnny said, looking at him and he shouldered Peter with an easy grin. He didn’t move an inch which made Johnny pout. “If I talked to you at our usual spot, you’d jump off and swing away before I give you some tips.” 

“I can jump into the water right now, Johnny. Don’t test me,” Peter said blandly, but he looked down and started swinging his legs. An unconscious smile seemed to creep up on his face. “And I don’t need any pointers, flame brain. I’ve got it covered.” 

Besides, MJ was totally not the person who’d fall for any of Johnny’s usual forms of flirting. Well, as he thought about it a bit more, she dated Harry Osborn, so did he really know anything?

“Dude, we literally dated. You definitely need some pointers.”

Peter turned his torso and shoved Johnny to the side. “Okay, ouch, first of all—”

“Not _ those _ pointers,” Johnny said, rolling his eyes, and Peter huffed. “You’re pretty good on that part—oh stuff it, bug boy, I’m not gonna stroke your ego. Anyways, as I was saying, you need to be straight with her. You know, about the soulmate thing.”

And in a moment, Peter’s legs stopped its swinging and the usual pun about not being straight died in his mouth. He turned around until he faced Johnny. 

Here was the thing about Peter and Johnny: they were a good thing, really good. But Peter had a soulmate and Johnny was in the select 18% who didn’t. He felt the guilt bubble up in his throat and he was about to say something, but Johnny had this uncanny ability to know when Peter was about to talk himself into a spiral. 

“Stop it, Spidey,” Johnny said firmly, but Peter could see the way Johnny’s eyes didn’t really meet his mask anymore. “We were dumb and didn’t communicate and... yeah.” 

Peter jumped off the ledge and took a slow step towards Johnny. When he saw that Johnny didn’t take a step back, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing tightly like the apology would seep through his skin. Johnny’s arms came up and mirrored him, his head burying itself into Peter’s shoulder. Peter said, “I never meant for you to get hurt, Johnny. I hope you know that, right?”

“I know, Pete,” Johnny whispered, and in one breath, he let go. “I hope for both of your sakes, you don’t get too attached.”

_ I already am_, yelled his heart, but Peter didn’t say another word. Instead, he swallowed his tongue, his guilt, the urge to trace Mary Jane’s name with his fingers, and nodded. They didn’t say anything else for a long while. 

And for the second time in his entire life, he quietly wondered whether or not Mary Jane was worth all the hurt he had caused. 

* * *

It was Saturday, nearing seven o’clock, when Peter began to panic in his room. After his talk with Johnny, he had a few days to psych himself up to get the courage to talk about the whole soulmate thing with MJ. And when he woke up this morning, he was set. He’d talk about how he was looking for his soulmate, but he really liked MJ and it would be amazing to date for however long she wanted. But the closer it got to their date, Peter’s mind spun in thirty different directions. 

He could deal with the MJ his mind conjured up for him, but she could never amount to the real MJ. The MJ who smiled at him when he said something particularly stupid, the MJ who patiently taught him about the protests she was involved in, the MJ who calmed him down after his mini panic attack when he came out to her, the MJ who spouted death statistics like it was her birthright, the MJ who called him nicknames more than she did his actual name—the MJ who was his best friend and had been for these past few years. 

And if he was being honest with himself, he liked real MJ more than the vague outline of a person he thought of as Mary Jane. 

“Peter, MJ’s at the door,” yelled May, pulling him from his thoughts. He rushed out, his perfect balance somehow losing itself to his nerves as he stumbled on his feet. He slowed down and gulped once he saw MJ in the doorway, talking to May casually, dressed in black jeans and a hoodie with a jean jacket over it. Her hair was out of her usual low ponytail and her curls were wild, spilling over her shoulders. Casual and a little bit warm, was what she texted him. She could’ve been wearing a tarp and his heart would still beat as fast. He ran a hand through his hair, messing up the gel he had put moments before, but he didn’t care, not when MJ stuck her tongue out at him when May turned away. 

“You look pretty,” was what came out of his mouth. Then he added as an afterthought, “Hi, MJ.”

MJ smiled, lighting up the whole room. Something in Peter had softened and all the anxiety and nerves faded away with her. She always did that to him, make him gentle, make him a little shy, never in a bad way though. She made him feel... human. She said, “Thanks. You ready?”

Peter nodded and stepped closer to her. May had hugged him and MJ when he was close enough, kissing both their foreheads. “Have fun, guys. And stay safe out there.” 

“Of course,” they echoed and walked out. He fiddled with the straps of his backpack on his shoulders before he got the courage to reach down and interlace his fingers with MJ’s. To his surprise, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and just tucked her head into her jacket collar, grinning. 

“So where are we headed?” Peter asked as MJ led him to a still-running car. He raised his eyebrows at the display, but MJ just snorted. 

“Midtown Manhattan,” she replied, gesturing inside. He slid in and a moment after, she did too, reaching for his hand to hold again. “I have connections, loser. I get free rides from Rob ever since the whole Green Goblin thing. Right, Rob?”

The man in question waved at him, turning onto the street. “MJ saved my life. The Green Goblin had planted one of his bombs and I was injured and couldn’t drive. MJ here took my car and drove me and a couple of other people to the nearest hospital.”

Peter turned to MJ who was looking out the window, biting her bottom lip. He whispered, wonderment on his tongue and surely in his eyes, “You’re a hero.”

MJ looked at him incredulously and shook her head. “I’m not. I would’ve done what anyone would do.”

“MJ,” he said, turning so his whole body faced her. “You’re not anyone. I’ve seen people run away, I’ve seen them leave their own family behind. At the first sign of danger, you run to help people. That’s what a hero is.”

She looked like she was about to say something, her mouth open and eyes glittering with—with _ something_, but then looked down at their hands and said genuinely, “Thank you.”

And for the rest of the ride, they were content to just listen to the radio and Rob’s random interjections about the traffic or how people couldn’t drive. 

Rob dropped them off at one of the apartments near Oscorp and Peter was undeniably confused because the only other person who had this money was—

“You coming?” MJ said, tilting her head towards the doorman (there was an actual doorman, holy shit) who just nodded at them. Peter followed suit as his eyes glanced at the extravagance of the place. This was the type of building Peter always rushed past by it but he never had the notion to just walk in and say hello. They had to take the elevator to the top floor, but there were still two floors left for them to trudge to reach the roof. 

“How did you...?” Peter couldn’t even form sentences. 

MJ shrugged. “You know how I dated Harry Osborn a year ago?”

Just the name Osborn made him heat up, anger boiling beneath his skin, and Peter had spent an inordinate amount of time trying to repress the memories of Harry and MJ dating. Harry had been enrolled in Midtown High because his father wanted to teach him a lesson, so he let Harry go to public school as punishment. If Peter didn’t already hate Norman, this would have just added to the mess of Norman’s faults. 

He, Ned, and MJ became friends with Harry though. The guy was sweet, if a bit entitled, but MJ really hammered some manners into him. Apparently, that was a thing for Harry because not too long after Harry started to flirt with MJ, and to Peter’s distress, MJ responded to it in turn. After a few more weeks of unbearable flirting, they went out. He really tried to be happy for them, but when he figured out who Norman was and the fact that Harry had fallen off the deep end, it was difficult not saying anything to MJ. She was in control of her own life, but it never stopped him from worrying. 

On a completely unrelated note, a few weeks after they started dating, Peter made out with Kitty after a particularly grueling day out as Spider-Man. 

Completely unrelated, as he said. 

“Yeah.” His voice was a little clipped, but MJ didn’t seem to care. Or maybe she was just kind enough not to comment on it. 

“After the whole thing with his dad and the drugs—” MJ shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. “—he felt sorry about being a shitty boyfriend, so he gave me free range access to his apartment complex even after I broke up with him. I haven’t used it because it was fucking weird. You know, rich white people weird, but the view is amazing. I don’t even think he realized the roof was somewhere to go. But yeah, I just sucked it up for the date.”

She leaned on the doorway to the roof, hands still in her pockets and feet shuffling. Peter said, soft, and all his bubbling anger had simmered and cooled, “Thanks, MJ.”

With those two words, she brightened up and the spark that had left her returned. She held out a hand which he took easily. MJ didn’t turn around, but she pushed back on the handle, opening the door. Peter had seen these garden roofs before mostly passing by while he was swinging through New York, but he’d never been in one.

It was a fairytale wrapped up in a dream, all pretty with fairy lights dotting around and twirling amongst the greenery. There was a picnic blanket in the middle and a pulse of warmth radiated through his chest. MJ really did this. For them. For him. He squeezed MJ’s hand and just looked at her with wide eyes. 

She grinned and Peter’s heart stuttered stupidly in his chest. “Face it, tiger… you just hit the jackpot.”

Did he win the life lottery or something? He must’ve done something incredible in his past life to have someone as amazing as MJ do this for him. He pulled her into a hug, unable to say anything, and rested his head on her shoulder. Her arms wrapped around his waist easily and she tightened her grip before letting him go. 

“C’mon, food’s waiting.” She tugged on his hand and led him to the blanket. He settled in easily, watching as MJ pulled out some sandwiches and a couple bottles of water. 

There was something serene about being here, on this rooftop with MJ by his side, with her shining under the fairy lights and the dim glow of the new moon. And Peter could carry a couple tons without a sweat, he could stick to walls and walk on ceilings, he could think twenty steps ahead from a guy with a gun—he was strong and fast and Peter felt the weight of hiding his identity so sharply on his shoulders. But MJ made it so easy for him to feel gentle, for him to be this happy. 

“Are you gonna eat or just keep staring at me?” MJ said, chomping down on her food. She wasn’t smiling, but her eyes crinkled at the corners and Peter knew she was teasing him. He absentmindedly took his sandwich and it was smushed all the way down like he always ordered it. Huh, he never knew MJ noticed that he did that. He couldn’t help the way his heart leaped a couple of beats too soon. 

He said while taking a hefty bite, making sure to chew obnoxiously loud, “I can multitask, you know.”

She snorted and stretched out her legs, so she could hit his calf. “Gross, loser. Close your mouth when you eat.”

He laughed and it felt light in his chest, lighter than he felt when he woke up this morning. As they started talking, and finishing up their sandwiches, they moved closer to one another. Peter took it upon himself to throw away their trash and when he turned back, MJ was laying down on the blanket, looking up at the dark sky. There weren’t any stars of course because it was fall in the middle of New York City and pollution would have ruined their chances of seeing anything either way, but she looked so relaxed, like all the tension from her body had fallen away. Peter was just glad he had some part to do with that. 

He laid down next to her, one of his hands strewn over his stomach while the other was next to MJ’s. They were close enough that he could feel the heat radiate off from her and there was nothing distracting himself from letting all his senses take her in. She must’ve reapplied her chapstick because he could smell it wafting through the air. He could feel the centimeters distance between their fingertips and it wasn’t difficult to cross it and entwine his hand in hers. 

There was a nagging feeling at the back of his neck—not his spider-sense, thank God—but it made him pause. The hand that was on his stomach trailed up to cover Mary Jane’s name and he resisted the urge to scream about the unfairness of it all. Parkers were supposed to have good luck with their soulmates, but Peter wouldn’t put it past whoever was up there to mess with his already shitty luck. 

Here he was, on a date with the most wonderful woman he knew, and the phantom presence of his soulmate was already hanging over his head. Great, just great. He already fucked up one good relationship because his communication skills sucked majorly, but he didn’t know what to do. The sense of loyalty he had for Mary Jane was ingrained deeply in his body, rewired completely in his DNA like the radioactive spider did to him. But… somehow MJ did that too. She buried herself in his life that he couldn’t think of a moment in his future where she shouldn’t be there. 

With all the problems that came with dating another superhero, at least they knew what they were getting into. They were already prepared for the dangers. He barely made it through one dance with Liz before he fucked up her life and shoved her dad in prison. And MJ—he hadn’t told her about his secret identity. To be fair, he’d never actually told anyone willingly. Both May and Ned found out by accident because he was an idiot and left the door to his room unlocked and Toomes just figured it out because he was a novice back then and, again, an idiot. 

But he _ really _ wanted to tell MJ. He wanted her to know every aspect of his life and the thought made his palms sweaty. He wiped his hands on his pants, avoiding eye contact with MJ who was looking at him with a concerned glint in her eyes. 

Maybe telling her he was Spider-Man would make telling her about Mary Jane less scary. He started, voice dropping down to a whisper, “Hey, MJ, I have to tell you something.”

She nodded and her face was a mask of calm. Peter almost laughed. At least one of them was fine. He was about to continue when his spider sense tingled and he tensed up. It felt like ages until his phone vibrated, giving him a heads up on the situation. He apologized to MJ who gave him an understanding look which he didn’t actually understand. He opened his phone and saw the notification from Ned. 

LIZARD MAN THING NEAR MIDTOWN. HURRY.

And right on cue, the police sirens blared, reaching even MJ’s ears. Panic flooded his body and he needed MJ to get away from Midtown _ now._ The Lizard was still a good few blocks away, but MJ needed to be inside away from this mess. 

He was about to make up an excuse about May when MJ said, “Hey, tiger, I think it’s getting late and my sister’s gonna worry if I don’t get back soon. I should probably head out.”

It was a brilliant segue-way into his excuse, so he didn’t question why MJ’s eyes were drifting from his eyes down to his chest. “Yeah, sorry, MJ. I have to leave too. May got really worried so I have to—”

“Go,” she ended and shooed him away with her hands. They stood up and Peter felt bad for leaving her like this. She had Rob to take her home and MJ could take care of herself, so the unease lifted marginally from his chest. But before he could run down, MJ took a step closer to him and leaned down slightly to kiss his cheek. “Bye, Peter.”

He smiled at her, a little strained, but the spot where she kissed him made him burn up on the inside. “Bye, MJ.”

Then he ran down the stairs, backpack shoved onto his shoulder, and he ran towards the nearest alleyway which was empty now thanks to all the police and the raging Lizard nearby. He changed quickly and webbed his backpack to the roof. He’d come back tomorrow to pick it up if he was too busy. Then he pulled himself up to the roof. He was going to leave when he saw MJ flag Rob down, the picnic blanket in her arms. They skid down the street and, thankfully, away from danger back towards Queens.

He nodded and then—_thwip! _

He was off to save New York from yet another nut job. And even though his date with MJ was ruined (at least partially), he couldn’t help but laugh a little. There was never a dull day for Peter Parker.

Turns out the Lizard was a Dr. Curt Connors, former employee at Oscorp, and it was a feat and a half to even pin him down. He looked about as sane as Norman Osborn was in the end, so it was safe to say this guy lost his marbles. Ned was doing some quick research, muttering facts he found about the man in Peter’s ear while he tried to get the guy to stop running and causing such a mess. He’d already ran from Midtown to the Upper West Side, to Central Park, and now he was blindly raging through the Upper East Side. Guess he’d get his backpack later. There was no way he had enough web fluid to go back and hop over to Queens. May already looked exasperated when he lost his a few months ago and he felt guilty knowing they didn’t have that much money to spare for a new one.

_ Fuck_, Peter thought, as he caught a billboard that had almost crushed a group of civilians. _ Literally, fuck. _

“The dude’s obsessed with limb regeneration and he was working on lizards, so maybe…” Ned’s theories half-filtered in through his ears. Peter was a little curious to know how Ned got that information, but he’d let Ned and his little hacking hands help him regardless. “He’s really smart though. And it seemed like he was a decent guy before he went all Lizard psycho on New York.” 

“If he made himself like this, I can reverse engineer it. Make a cure or something,” Peter said, grunting a little as he tried to haul up a large slab of concrete that made its way down to the ground towards a carful of people. “But we’ll get to that later. I just need to contain him.” 

There was no rhyme or reason to the Lizard’s movements. But once he was sure that no other civilians were going to get hurt, he shot a few webs to pin the Lizard down. It did manage to stop him and turn towards Peter. He yelled, a guttural sound, and ran towards Peter. He avoided the guy’s claws, which wow, what the hell did this guy do to himself?

“You need a manicure for those things, man,” he quipped, shooting a few webs across the guy’s arms so they weren’t moving. “Those can kill a guy.” 

_ I’m the guy, _ he thought as the Lizard clawed off the webs and ripped a tree from its roots and threw it. He was about to joke about the his aim because he was way off when he realized he was throwing towards the police nearby. Peter turned and quickly webbed the tree and threw it down near the East River, avoiding any more casualties. But as he was doing that, the Lizard took it as his prime time to swipe his claws near his chest, ripping his suit. Peter grunted at the pain, but he had already shot a few more webs close range until the Lizard was in a cocoon.

“Dude, not the suit,” he complained as he continued webbing him down. “I’m not made of money, you know.”

He bucked wildly and, in a flash, he tumbled down towards the river. Peter tried to shoot another web to catch him before he fell, but he was gone. He flung himself towards the edge and saw nothing. No sign of the Lizard guy. A couple of policemen and women came up and looked over the edge too. 

Peter had a feeling this wasn’t the last time he’d see the Lizard though.

There was the general anti-Spidey sentiment in the air, but he did get a few claps on the shoulder for the help. He shook his head and almost groaned when he tried to move. Man, those cuts went deep. He saluted at them with two fingers and made his way up north until he swung down and laid atop a truck headed towards Queens. He needed to save the rest of his web fluid for the trip home, since webbing down the Lizard took a lot of it. He told Ned he was fine and disconnected the comms. 

He gingerly pressed his wounds and hissed when a burst of more blood spilled from it. It wasn’t as bad as most of the wounds he had acquired over his years as Spider-Man. He’d been stabbed, shot, punched, kicked, and even gotten trapped until several hundred tons of concrete, so a couple of cuts weren’t that bad on the list. It would heal overnight and, as Peter pressed his hand against it again, it stopped bleeding which was great. He sighed and looked to the side, watching as the night sky blended in with the bright New York City skyline. He turned his head and closed his eyes, feeling the rumble of the vehicle underneath his body, lulling him into a restless nap. 

When Peter woke up, he was in Queens, but near MJ’s place. Peter was a little disoriented from the blood lost, or at least that was what he was telling himself, because he swung towards MJ’s window and knocked. Peter figured if he was going to flake on MJ for the rest of their dates (if they even have more), he was going to tell her about Spider-Man. He heard her sock-covered feet padding over to the window cautiously. She threw her curtains to the side and gaped when she saw his face then his chest. 

She fumbled with the lock and opened up her window, so he could crawl in. She said, “Holy shit, holy shit, you’re hurt.”

“MJ…” he started, trying to get her attention as she fussed over the cuts, which now looked grizzly in her bright room lighting. “I have to tell you something.” 

She was clearly upset at his wounds more than he was and he almost let out a sigh. She was cute when she was worried, but he had bigger things to deal with than his stupid scratches. He said again, “MJ, please, I’m fine. I have to—“

“Peter,” she said with a sense of finality and he gaped at her. 

“You… you knew?” he spluttered, “How long? When did you find out? What?”

She rolled her eyes and her hands climbed up and found the seam of his mask and pulled it up, revealing his face. He knew he looked like a verified mess, with his hair probably sticking up some places and matted down in others. Not to mention the fact that there were still open cuts on his chest and his suit was ruined. She cupped his face in her hands and smiled, if a little sadly, “I’ve known since you first started.” She chuckled. “For someone so smart, you’re so bad at being aware of your surroundings. I saw you lift up the entire row of lockers and grab your suit freshman year.”

Peter’s mind whirled with the realization. His gloved hands came up to cover hers and he stared at her like she was the hidden eighth wonder of the world. To him, she was all of them. “All this time… you knew. And you didn’t tell anyone.”

She nodded. “I told you I was observant.”

Peter smiled and said, hoping she could hear the raw genuineness in his voice, “Thank you.” 

She just shook her head and said, “I’m going to get the first aid kit. Don’t you dare leave, Parker.” 

“Wouldn’t have done it anyway.” He grinned lazily at her and sat down on her swivel chair. He spun in it once, just because he could. With that, she left the room, closing the door with a soft click. 

* * *

MJ needed to move, to do something other than lean her forehead against her closed door and closed her eyes. Her best friend was there in her room bleeding and she was holding onto the kit so tightly that her fingers turned white. Peter Parker, Spider-Man, the boy she had a crush on forever, and the guy whose name is written on her side, right on her left rib cage was there. It was one thing to know your soulmate was your best friend, a different thing to know he ran around in spandex helping the people of New York even though it wasn’t his job to do so, and it was like _another_ thing to know that your best friend who also seconds as New York’s finest superhero is also your soulmate. So, yeah, she was freaking out. Officially. 

When Peter turned from cute, dorky nerd to buffing up over the weekend, she was instantly wary. No one suddenly got contacts and turned up to school looking like that without something shady happening. She had watched him for a few months and saw the rise and fall and rebirth of Peter Parker. She saw the uptick in confidence at his appearance, she saw the sudden death of Ben Parker making him become more of a hermit, she saw Peter leaning on Ned and building back up his self-worth piece by piece. 

And there were thousands of Peters in New York and even a couple in Midtown High and maybe it was her imagination, but she could feel her soulmark tingle at the sight of him. She tried to shut down her feelings for him because if there was a chance he was her soulmate, she was bound to ruin it. Knowing her family’s history with their soulmate, Peter was better off alone. So she closed herself off and it was easy. Her resting bitch face and general personality didn’t attract many people regardless. Unless they were nerds or charming assholes with bad habits. She couldn’t keep it up though, with Peter and Ned somehow slotting nearly into her life like they were meant to be there. And the more she hung out with Peter, the more she knew in her heart, as stupid as that fucking sounds, that he was hers. 

She was tempted to leave Peter in her room. And it was a horrible, selfish part of her that she hated about herself, but she was scared. Terrified even, because she wanted to be with him, wanted him to love the pieces of herself that she even hated. She hadn’t even told him anything about her family, except that she lived with Gayle. 

Just when she was about to place the first aid kit down, she heard Peter singing the song she had sent him a couple of days ago. He had a surprisingly nice voice, his pitch clear and in key, but that wasn’t what she was focused on. He was singing the song like he knew it forever even though she sent it on a whim. Her heartbeat was unwavering and she knew what she had to do. She traced her hand down the door to her door knob and nodded to herself. 

She opened the door and Peter had stopped singing when he heard her move, but he was still smiling that dumb grin that made her knees weak. His brown eyes were open and expressive and she could tell he wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there. MJ couldn’t help but return his grin because, in all honesty, she wanted to kiss him too. 

MJ sat down on her bed while Peter moved the chair closer to her. Her fingertips traced over the cuts which were healing nicely. A perk to being superhuman probably. He didn’t even flinch as she cut away the cloth that had stuck to his skin and his wound, but she winced as she did it. She had gotten most of the cuts clean and placed a bandage on them, but there was a part of his suit that still stuck stubbornly to his skin. She pursed her lips and, carefully with the scissors, she cut it open. 

Her heart stuttered when she saw her name on his left rib, mirroring her own. 

Peter had turned stock-still and hadn’t moved an inch when she caught sight of it. She let her fingers trace over the name she hadn’t heard in so long. He shivered under her touch, but she was lost in her memories.

“MJ, I—” he said, a sad look in his eyes. She shook her head and his words fumbled to a stop. 

“Do you know Michelle Jones isn’t my real name?” she asked instead, gazing into his eyes that were desperately locked on hers. 

“I never knew that,” he said, slowly. 

A wry smile crossed her lips. “You know how I live with my sister, Gayle? I barely saw her before middle school. She moved out when Mom died and Dad got abusive.” Something in Peter’s brown eyes darkened. “I tried living with him, but after he hit me I tracked down my sister and asked if I could live with her here in Queens. I moved, but I didn’t want to be associated with my dad anymore. It was all everyone at my old school talked about, and Gayle was always too busy to do the paperwork for my school, so I enrolled myself as Michelle Jones. I wanted to keep the initials of my real name, since I’m used to MJ.” 

Peter’s gaze never faltered and she hung onto his steadiness like a lifeline. “My real name is Mary Jane,” she said, and hiked up her shirt to show Peter’s name on her skin. “And I’m your soulmate and you’re mine.” 

There was a beat, a single moment of unbearable silence, until Peter said, eyes dark for a different reason, and small smirk seemingly stuck on his face, “I know this is cliché to say this on our first date, but I have been waiting for you my entire life.”

MJ laughed and all the tension seeped away from her body. She let her shirt fall down, but Peter’s hands were suddenly on hers. 

“What’s your full name,” he asked.

“Mary Jane Watson.”

“Do you miss it?” Peter’s thumb rubbed the back of her hand gently. It was really too distracting. “People calling you by your real name?”

She shrugged. It never really bothered her, and not to sound like a total recluse, because she never had any friends before she became captain. “It helps that I let my friends call me MJ. That’s what everyone did back then too. But, yeah, I miss it sometimes.” She snorted and said, “I used to lord it over my sister because she had one name while I had two. It’s way too late for me to change it now. Probably after high school.”

Peter scratched the back in his head and asked, hesitant and a little shy, “Can I call you Mary Jane?”

MJ smiled and leaned forward a little. She teased, “So eager.”

He shrugged nonchalantly and hummed thoughtfully. “I just like how it rolls of my lips, _ Mary Jane Watson_.”

She shivered a bit and she felt herself getting warmer even though she accidentally left her window open, letting the November air circulate around her room. It sounded natural coming from his mouth, like it was a part of his own name. Her legs opened a little wider to let Peter fit between them and she moved closer to him, her lips inches away from his mouth. She licked her lips and watched as Peter’s eyes darted down towards the movement. She said, “If it always sounds like that when you say it, you can do whatever the hell you want, tiger.”

Peter smiled at her and, damn it was closer to a smirk than anything. “Okay, Mary Jane.”

Then he closed the distance between their lips and everything else fell away. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed !!!! find me on [tumblr](http://bipetermj.tumblr.com/) :D


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